


Lemon, Lime, And Bitters

by stabmekindly



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Minor Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, Mutual Pining, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Punk Yamaguchi Tadashi, References to Drugs, Sleepovers, Slow Burn, Sugawara Koushi is a Good Friend, Swearing, Talk Of Nude Photos, Tokyo Training Camp Arc (Haikyuu), Tsukishima Kei in Love, Yamaguchi Tadashi in Love, coffee shop au but make it a bakery, i live for tsukishima and sugawara being friends, tsukkiyama - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28807659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stabmekindly/pseuds/stabmekindly
Summary: You didn’t say it, but you wanted me to confess. You didn’t know it, but my feelings were clasped in my hand, waiting for you to hold it.The TsukkiYama fanfiction that I couldn’t find so decided to write.
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 17
Kudos: 38





	1. Of Milkshakes And Memories

The bakery smells of strawberry shortcake and coffee.

It has been the usual place for Tsukishima Kei and Yamaguchi Tadashi to hang out ever since they were old enough to roam the town alone. Neither of them could remember when they found the store but for some reason they kept coming back, choosing a small table in the corner of the room to call their own. Their names are etched into the wood of one of the table’s legs, hopefully unbeknownst to the staff that welcomed them every day, so used to the pair’s presence.

At thirteen years old, Yamaguchi suddenly paused with a floppy french fry raised halfway to his mouth to inform Tsukishima of his "absolutely brilliant" idea. "We should write our names on the table, Tsukki!"

"Yamaguchi, that is vandalism."

"No one will know, though. Think of when we are old and frail and come back to this bakery to relive our youth. We'll need something to remember which table was ours," Yamaguchi argued, draping himself across Tsukishima dramatically. He wanted to point out that the tables will most likely be replaced for something more modern by then, but Kei couldn't bring himself to shut down his friend's idea any further. He gave in.

Despite what most people assume, out of the two, Yamaguchi is almost always the one who gets his way.

Three years later and the messily carved "Tadashi + Kei" was still visible on the side of the table leg. It was unlikely that the staff hadn't noticed it after all this time but they, thankfully, never called the boys out or tried to remove it.

Now that they went to Karasuno High, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima would drop into the bakery every day after afternoon volleyball practise and while they couldn't spend much time there due to the late hour, neither of them ever considered to stop going. 

"The usual, Tsukki?" Yamaguchi asks, standing to go to the counter to order for them. Tsukishima looked up at him, slightly amused at the height difference since he was sitting. He nodded, slipping some money into Yamaguchi's bag to repay him once his back was turned.

Tsukishima enjoyed their little routine: go the bakery after practise, have Yamaguchi order the usual, secretly put the couple of dollars he owed into Yamaguchi's bag (Kei wasn't sure if he knew about it since he never mentioned it), stay for fifteen minutes and listen to his friend's gossip, and walk back home together, eventually waving goodbye when they had to turn down different streets. It was predictable and unchanging, and Tsukishima looked forward to it every day. Not that he would admit it, of course.

He couldn't quite pinpoint the moment his whole life begun to revolve around those afternoons with Yamaguchi, but Kei knew it had been this way for a while. For years, he has been telling himself that it didn't matter if people at school were annoying him, as long as he made it through the day without snapping at them and getting himself in trouble, he could spend time with Yamaguchi afterwards. He was sure that it was the only reason he never found himself in a physical fight with someone.

Yamaguchi was Tsukishima's first friend and for a long time, his only one. His mother and brother rejoiced the first time he asked them if Yamaguchi could stay over. They smothered him with questions about how he met Tadashi and when they became friends and he told them some simple answer like they were paired up for an activity. It wasn't until a year later when they brought the topic up with Yamaguchi did the Tsukishima family really discover what started Kei's first friendship.

They first met in elementary school. At the time, Tadashi was being bullied by other students in their grade who would pick on him and push him around, calling him names that, if he were being honest, still bothered him even into his teenage years. During one of the particularly rough confrontations, a tall boy walked by and unlike any other kids, stopped at the sight in front of him.

"That's so uncool," he had said. Afraid of losing their pride, one of the bullies immediately moved their attention to the boy. The face-off didn't last long though. When the bully tried to insult him, he only laughed and soon all three of them were running off, realizing they couldn’t break the boys resolve. "Lame," he muttered, before taking one last look at Yamaguchi and walking off again. At the time, he might have actually been talking about Yamaguchi, too. But he didn't care. The bullies were a menace to him, so he thought it was 'amazingly cool' that the boy could say it by himself.

The two met again a couple of days later at a gymnasium. The boy walked past, confidently saying hello without even looking at Yamaguchi. Despite his nervous nature Tadashi rushed to thank him for scaring off the bullies, to which the boy paid no mind. As the conversation switched to volleyball and they talked more, he only found him to be even cooler.

Eventually, he learnt that the boy's name was Tsukishima Kei. Since then, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima came as a set, the two practically joined at the hip for the many years that they knew each other.

That is the story that Yamaguchi told Kei’s family, at least. Tsukishima had sat in silence as his friend explained the ordeal, having given up on trying to silence Tadashi when he first started the tale. It was embarrassing to be portrayed as someone who didn’t even care about the person who, unbeknownst to them at the time, would become Kei’s best friend. To be fair, he didn’t care all that much, but he couldn’t bring himself to say nothing Yamaguchi’s bullies, even if he didn’t want to bother getting involved. Tsukishima is glad he had some compassion for the freckled boy who was crying, because now he gets to see that same freckled boy smiling everyday. 

"Tsukki!" The voice brought Kei out of his thoughts and he watched as Yamaguchi clumsily placed a strawberry milkshake in front of him, struggling to balance his chocolate version of the drink and spare change while trying to sit down. Tsukishima chuckled at the scene, earning him a quick glare. To make up for it, he took the drink from Yamaguchi's hand and kicked out his chair for him from across the table. Once he put away his money, not without dropping a few coins on the floor first, Tadashi took his drink and began his typical gossip. Tsukishima listened happily, scoffing occasionally at the ridiculous things his teammates were able to do in just one day.

“And then – you won’t believe this – Sugawara told Asahi that when they first met he would call him Ashley in his head because he thought Asahi looked like a girl. And then Asahi said that Sugawara called him that out loud a couple of times too.”

“Sugawara would do that.”

“He really would! Oh, and also, Tanaka tried asking out Kiyoko again today. Guess what she said.”

“No?”

“Yup! I wonder if she’ll ever say yes. Not that it matters though, Tanaka will never give up.”

Words only continued to tumble out of his mouth and Tsukishima wondered how he found all this information, especially since he was with him so often and heard none of it. Even with the stories that Tadashi would tell him at school, there was always plenty more.

Yamaguchi suddenly burst out laughing and Tsukishima grinned. He didn’t know what it was that was funny but the sound of his friend’s laughter was something that he would never get sick of.

“Hinata and Kageyama got into another fight today,” Yamaguchi says once he calmed down enough to speak, and broke into one of the customary recounts of the freak duo’s arguments. This time Kageyama called Hinata a leprechaun. Personally, Tsukishima thought the comparison was completely accurate; Yamaguchi told him not to tell Hinata that.

By the time they finish their milkshakes, Tsukishima knew about the Nishinoya and pot plant incident, Yachi tripping down the stairs and Kinoshita's lunch.

“I’ve concluded that our teammates are all problem children,” Tsukishima states as him and Yamaguchi get up to leave. They stayed a little longer then they intended, and it was already considerably dark outside. The sun was setting and cast the sky into a deep orange that was quickly fading into the night, and while it was beautiful, Tsukishima thought it was more beautiful to not be scolded by his mother for arriving home too late.

“I would consider you a problem child too, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi taunts, clasping his hands behind his back as he continues walking innocently. Tsukishima paused for a second before taking a few large strides to catch up to Yamaguchi, feigning an insulted look once he was looking at him again. Kei placed a hand to his heart as if he had been shot.

“Oh, you wound me Tadashi. To be abused by my best friend like this, how could I ever go on?”

The two broke into a fit of laughter, playfully pushing each other as they made their way home. It was nostalgic in a way that could never grow old. Eventually, Tsukishima moved to grab his headphones from his bag and place them over his ears. He looked to Yamaguchi to make sure that it was okay for him to listen to music for the rest of the walk, only to already be greeted by his friend’s usual nod and toothy grin. It makes Kei smile in a way that only Yamaguchi would ever see. Of course, Tadashi already knew was he was going to ask; they had been doing this for years.

Yeah, this was definitely Tsukishima’s favourite part of the day.

***

Traces of Yamaguchi are littered across Tsukishima’s bedroom, hiding in places like picture frames, unused hair ties, and a spare pillow beneath the bed. There is something so familiar about Tadashi being in his room, being with him, that makes Tsukishima feel strange when he is alone.

When he gets home Kei greets his brother, Akiteru, by scowling at his attempts at small talk. Akiteru is home from college for a month because of a reason that Kei didn’t bother to listen to. He cares about his brother more than he would tell anyone, but he tends to be too much sometimes (most of the time).

“Kei?” His mother half shouts from the kitchen, followed by a clash of pots. Tsukishima sighs. His mother is a good cook, but she is just as – if not more – clumsy than Yamaguchi. “Oh, hi, dear. How was your-”

Tsukishima is padding up the stairs to have a shower and do his homework before Akiteru or his mother can begin pestering him again.

When he hears his mother’s call that dinner is ready, Tsukishima makes his way to the kitchen, his footsteps echoing on the hardwood floors as he goes. No one in the household likes them since they are loud and manage to wake everyone up if someone tries to walk around at night, but his father insisted that he wanted them when his parents bought the house. Although she complains about them just as much as the Tsukishima brothers, his mother says that they were still a good choice. Something about being able to make sure they didn’t try to sneak out. It was a lame excuse to defend his father’s stupid decision to get the loudest, most annoying floors possible.

“It is your friend’s birthday on Sunday, isn’t it?” Kei is welcomed with when he takes his place at the table, across from Akiteru.

“Hinata is not my friend,” Kei tells them, stubbornly. It is, sadly, Hinata’s sixteenth birthday in two days and Tsukishima doesn’t know what irritates him more – the fact that Hinata is older than him or that he invited the whole team to a sleepover to celebrate. Reluctantly, he asks if he can go.

His brother scoffs at him. “If you’re having a sleepover with him, I’m sure Hinata is your friend.” It takes all of Tsukishima’s will to not fling his miso soup at Akiteru’s head.

“He invited everyone on the team,” Kei states, staring, this time, at his rice, hoping that a strong gust of wind will come and cause it to smack his brother in the face. Unfortunately, the gods aren’t on his side today. “Yamaguchi is going, obviously, and is forcing me to go too, obviously.”

He must have a very evident look of distaste on his face because his family laughs at him.

“Of course you can go,” his mother says, still chuckling. She asks if Kei bought Hinata a present and surprisingly, he did. The team knew about the sleepover for a while now, meaning Tsukishima had plenty of time to take a trip to the dollar store and buy the worst thing there. At least, that’s what he was going to do, but he stumbled across a gift that Kei couldn’t deny would be perfect for Hinata. He continued walking around the store after seeing it, thinking that the stupid tangerine wasn’t worth wasting money on, but he couldn’t get it out of his mind. In the end, despite the way he was grumbling and stomping out of the story like an angry toddler, he bought it. 

The gift sits on his desk now, wrapped in black nitid paper with an irritating orange bow. When Tsukishima enters his room after dinner, he nearly throws it out his window. He’s glad that he can give the present to Hinata soon so it will stop taunting him.

Apparently, the world loves taunting Tsukishima though. A couple of hours later, just as Kei decides that he should probably go to bed, he hears his phone buzz and checks it, only to find a message from Hinata informing him of his address and when to arrive on Sunday. 

He turns off his phone. Then unlocks it again. _good night, yams,_ he texts, scrolling mindlessly through his apps as he waits for a reply.

**_Tadashi_ **

_night, tsukki !! see you on sunday (don’t forget hinata’s present btw)_

“Yeah, I won’t,” Tsukishima mutters to himself as he turns off the lights in his room and puts his headphones on. “See you on Sunday, Yamaguchi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is technically my first FanFiction so go easy on me. Please, leave any suggestions you might have. I'm totally welcome to them. 
> 
> A couple of general things:  
> Chapters should usually be longer than this (maybe around double this size).  
> At the least, I will be updating every Sunday (I live in Australia, so my Sunday is probably different from yours by the way). 
> 
> Alright, thank you so much. Happy reading !! ;)


	2. Confectionery Calamities: Part One

Tsukishima isn’t sure which of the Hinata siblings are more annoying.

When he and Yamaguchi knock on the family’s door at 11am on Sunday, June 21st, they are greeted by Shōyō’s younger sister, Natsu. She is loud, cheerful, and annoying, just like her brother. Kei is sure that one day she will wish to grow wings and catch up to Hinata; he can already picture her playing volleyball. It reminds Tsukishima of how he and Akiteru used to be, though thinking that he is in any way similar to Hinata, makes him want to throw up. 

“Shōyō!” Natsu screams, turning her head to look back inside the house. “More of your friends are here!” Oh, thank god, Tsukishima thinks, they aren’t the first ones to arrive. Hinata yells backs asking which one’s they are, his voice followed by crashes that are most likely a few people rushing to the door.

Natsu ignores the havoc inside and looks back at Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, eyes wide as she inspects them. “The tall one with glasses and the nice one!” She decides on after a few seconds.

Tadashi smirks at Kei, poking him playfully. “You hear that, Tsukki?” Yamaguchi half-whispers. “I’m the nice one.” Kei suppresses a smile and instead rolls his eyes.

“Yamaguchi, shut up.”

“Sorry, Tsukki!”

Suddenly Natsu leaves the entrance to make room for Hinata and Tanaka who quickly pull Tsukishima and Yamaguchi inside. They’ve been thrown into chaos and Tsukishima immediately regrets his decision of not murdering Hinata the moment they met.

Nishinoya and Sugawara are arm wrestling in the living room, with Daichi and Kageyama cheering for them. Sugawara is yelling something about refusing to lose to someone who got a concussion by trying to balance a pot plant on their head while riding a bicycle.

“It wasn’t a concussion!” Nishinoya shrieks back. It was a concussion. He got sent home for the rest of the day.

Tsukishima wonders if it is too late to put the present in the doorway and leave.

“Happy Birthday!” Yamaguchi says joyfully to Hinata, ignoring their teammates as Sugawara shouts an interesting concoction of unsavoury words at Nishinoya. Apparently, Yamaguchi won’t be nice for the both of them this time and he elbows Kei lightly.

“Yeah, it is your birthday,” Tsukishima mutters, holding the small, wrapped box out to ‘the birthday boy’, vaguely gesturing that he wants to put the present down.

“Oh, I didn’t think you’d actually get me anything.” Kei didn’t either.

Hinata takes the box carefully, clearly very suspicious of what’s inside. After a ridiculous amount of time, he finishes tiptoeing to the table stacked with presents and places Tsukishima’s gift in the pile. He does it so meticulously, you would think he is carrying a bomb. He probably thinks he is. Yamaguchi sets down the present he bought Hinata next to Tsukishima’s, and they walk back to the rest of the team. Ennoshita, Asahi and Kinoshita are yet to arrive, and Narita couldn’t make it, but the room is still already a complete mess.

At this point, Sugawara is prancing around the sofa doing his ‘victory dance’ and Nishinoya is lying flat on his stomach in the middle of the floor. Tanaka is by his best friend’s side telling him that it was a fluke and that he knew Karasuno’s guardian deity wouldn’t really lose in an arm-wrestling battle, but his reassurance doesn’t seem to do much for Nishinoya’s hurt pride.

Yamaguchi chuckles at them, while Tsukishima watches in disgust, but not disbelief.

“This room is filled with idiots,” Kei mutters as he sits on the sofa, manoeuvring himself past the disarray. Yamaguchi takes a seat closely beside him. So close Tsukishima can feel the heat radiating off him. Yamaguchi was always so warm.

“You know, we’re in this room,” Tadashi teases. “Doesn’t that make us idiots, too?”

You’re not an idiot, Tsukishima wants to say. For thinking that, I probably am, he wants to say, but you’re not. “Yamaguchi, shut up,” he says instead.

“Sorry, Tsukki.”

“My mom will be home soon,” Hinata announces once Asahi, Ennoshita and Kinoshita arrive. ‘Great’, the whole gang is together now. “We should go to my room.”

Tsukishima looks back at the mess in the living room and thinks that it doesn’t matter if they left or not. The wreckage here is still very obvious. He feels bad for whoever ends up having to clean up Hinata’s house once everyone leaves tomorrow. Unless it is Hinata, of course.

The group make their way to Hinata’s room in a fashion that Tsukishima could only describe as stampeding. He makes sure that him and Yamaguchi trail behind and while he hopes Yamaguchi doesn’t feel excluded from the rest of the team and like he is stuck too closely to Kei, Tsukishima doesn’t think he could speak to Tadashi for the rest of the day if he ran off the way they all did.

Hinata’s room is surprisingly clean, though it won’t stay that way for long. His mother most likely forced him to tidy it prior to his friends arriving, but Tsukishima must admit he is impressed. It doesn’t look like there is any trash stashed away in random places as if they were hidden in a hurry, so it must not have been a complete pigsty before. There are volleyball posters pinned to walls all over the room, as anyone would suspect, along with many pictures of his family and the team. Tsukishima doesn’t remember a camera being at some of the places in the photos. He makes a mental note to look out for one when he is at school. And when he’s not, just to be safe.

Kageyama sprawls himself across Hinata’s bed in such a familiar way that Tsukishima is sure he’s been here before. If that’s the case, someone needs to save Hinata’s mother. The poor woman must be so tired. But you know what, Kei also suffers from the curse that is ‘knowing Kageyama and Hinata’.

Everyone claims a place in the room, getting comfortable in the new – for most of them – environment, though many of them had done that within seconds of setting foot in Hinata’s house. Kageyama, Hinata, and Nishinoya sit on the bed, Sugawara, and Tanaka on the floor in front of them. Daichi, Ennoshita and Asahi sit cross-legged on the floor beside the two and Kinoshita takes the chair at Hinata’s desk. Finally, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi claim the spot between the head of Hinata’s bed and the desk, sitting next to each other in front of the window there.

Hinata takes a pleased look at the square they all made and then – unfortunately, Tsukishima thinks – opens his mouth to speak. “Thank you all for coming!”

“God, what is this, some kind of business meeting?” Tsukishima says sarcastically before anyone else has the chance to comment with another far too happy response. “If you tell me we’ve been assembled here because we’re humanity’s last hope at survival, I’m leaving.” Kei rolls his eyes when the room bursts into laughter. Hinata gawks at him through his obnoxiously loud cackle before reaching for a pillow and chucking it at him. Somehow, it hits the blonde square in the head, his glasses tumbling into his lap. Everyone just laughs harder at Tsukishima’s angry look except for Yamaguchi, who continues chuckling as he picks up Kei’s glasses and gently places them back onto his face. He is so close that Tsukishima swears he can see the distinct shape of every freckle cluttered across Tadashi’s cheeks. 

“Pretty,” he whispers.

“Huh, Tsukki?” Yamaguchi asks, pulling away slowly. He has to speak a little louder due to their team’s laughter, which was thankfully, starting to die down. Though Kei was grateful that it prevented Yamaguchi from hearing his comment.

“Oh,” Tsukishima says dumbly, appalled that he said something so stupid out loud. “I just… Hinata’s a moron.” It’s not exactly Tsukishima’s best save but it works. For a second, he thinks he catches Sugawara looking at him, but when he takes a second glance the setter is turned away, talking to Tanaka. Kei chalks down Sugawara’s curious stare to his imagination.

“For once I agree with you,” Kageyama chimes in, earning him a harsh shove from the moron in question that nearly sends him tumbling off the bed.

Once everyone seems to have gotten over the small fuss, Hinata pulls out a stash of candy, soft drinks, and pizza and throws it into the centre of the group. Like vultures, they all dive for the food, snatching up chocolates covered in crinkled sheets of blue foil and lukewarm cheese pizza. Tsukishima just watches as they fight over different flavoured lollies and wonders how they could eat so much junk at only 12pm. Despite his sweet tooth, he would not be able to stomach any of this when it is barely lunchtime. Knowing this, Yamaguchi hands Kei a half-filled plastic cup of lemonade, keeping the slice of pizza he grabbed for himself. He’s lucky he took it quickly because the pizza boxes are empty within a few minutes, everyone other than Tsukishima having either finished eating theirs or managed to get a plate from somewhere to put their slice on.

A bunch of teenage boys mixed with tomato sauce and melted cheese is not a good idea and Kei grimaces at the stained faces of his team. This entire sleepover was not a good idea, to begin with. For one, it is on a Sunday, meaning there is school tomorrow. Meaning they are going to have to wake up early in the morning and get ready, sharing the one bathroom in Hinata’s house. Coach Ukai and Takeda cancelled volleyball practise that morning after Hinata begged them to so he could have his birthday sleepover, but it will still be horribly rushed tomorrow. Tsukishima doesn’t see why he couldn’t have just done it from Saturday to Sunday instead but apparently, a few of the members weren’t free. If it were Kei, he would have just had it without them. But really, if it were Kei, he would have only invited Yamaguchi.

Unfortunately, this isn’t his sleepover, and so there are eleven people crammed into the room. It is going to be a long day.

***

“Let’s play never have I ever,” Sugawara suggests when the room eventually grows quiet – or as quiet as Karasuno’s boys’ volleyball team could be. It is a horrible suggestion, and yet several people immediately agree with far more enthusiasm than they should have. In the end, despite protests from Tsukishima and surprisingly, Ennoshita, who agreed with Kei’s point that this would not end well, they were now playing the stupid game. Tsukishima had thought that Daichi would be on his side too, but the captain had told them that it would be a good way for everyone to bond. Once he’d made his point, there was no way Kei could get out of it.

Obviously, they couldn’t drink, though Tanaka had offered to call his older sister, Saeko, and ask her to buy them alcohol – an idea that this time, was quickly shut down by Daichi –,so their cups were filled with soft drink instead.

“Alright, since I suggested it I’ll go first and then we’ll take turns in a clockwise direction,” Sugawara says, looking at the group mischievously. “Okay, let’s start. I’ll go easy on you this round. Never have I ever been in a relationship.”

Asahi and Kinoshita take a hesitant sip from their cups. This was a surprise. The first years obviously had no idea about it, but their upperclassmen look just as shocked too.

“What?!” The second and third years yell.

Asahi chuckles, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I had a girlfriend back in middle school. We probably would have stayed together if we didn’t end up going to different high schools, but it wasn’t a big deal anyway. We got over each other quickly.”

“Asahi! How could you not tell me about this?” Nishinoya shouts, jumping out of his seat to harass him.

“How could you not tell _us_ either?” Daichi adds, pointing to Sugawara. He then puts on a very serious face. “I’m very disappointed in you, Azumane.”

“I’m… sorry?” Asahi says, confused at why it was such a big deal since it was so long ago and wasn’t even that serious. Luckily for him, everyone’s attention switches to Kinoshita after that.

“I’m actually in a relationship.” He confesses. “They don’t go to this school, but our families know each other so, yeah.”

This game was a ticking time bomb, and it has already gone off after just one round, Tsukishima thinks as they all descend into chaos. Ennoshita, Nishinoya, and Tanaka are shouting, Sugawara and Daichi are holding hands and faking tears as if they’re Kinoshita’s proud parents and Hinata is chanting “Kinoshita, the love machine” over and over. Asahi, Kageyama, and Yamaguchi are just laughing as Kinoshita fumbles around awkwardly, waiting for everyone to stop. It is actually quite ridiculous, and Kei would have found it relatively funny if he didn’t have to be so close to this mess.

“Our innocent little Kinoshita; a married man,” Sugawara says, stretching his hand out to Kinoshita. “Congratulations.”

Kinoshita seemingly decides to just accept Sugawara’s antics, shaking his hand with a sigh.

“My turn! Never have I ever…” Tanaka yells, making a show of trying to think of a good question. “Never have I ever been sent nudes from someone!”

It is a completely ridiculous thing to ask and it is even more ridiculous that Tsukishima is raising his cup to his lips to take a sip. Thankfully for him, he’s not the only one and Sugawara, Asahi and Ennoshita all do the same.

“It was just some random person on Instagram,” Tsukishima explains before anyone gets the chance to start yelling. “Your typical gross, old guy, you know.”

“Yep, same here,” Ennoshita says, shrugging. The group take the two’s answer and immediately turn to look at Sugawara and Asahi.

“What can I say?” Sugawara says, raising his hands innocently. “I’ve got ladies blowing up my phone all the time.” Daichi flicks his ear and gives him a stern look. “Fine. This girl sent me some, maybe she had a crush on me, I don’t know. As soon as I got them, I went to her teacher and they got in contact with her parents. I deleted them straight away after that.”

“It was a similar situation for me, too,” Asahi follows. “I got them, immediately made sure her parents knew about it and then deleted the pictures.”

Everyone nods their heads seriously, though a little too dramatic and then continue on with the game. Daichi, Ennoshita, Asahi and Kinoshita all take their turns, asking simple things like ‘been on a sports team for something other than volleyball’ or ‘had a sibling’. All very ‘get to know each other’ questions. The one’s that absolutely no one is interested in.

By the time Yamaguchi’s turn comes around, everyone looks like they are itching for some drama. Tsukishima begs that Yamaguchi won’t give it to them, but he knows it’s useless. His friend is a sucker for gossip so he wouldn’t just settle on a boring question.

“Never have I ever done some kind of drugs. This means, like, alcohol and smoking and stuff,” Yamaguchi says, taking a sip of his drink after he’s done. For drama, he’ll lose this round.

Hesitantly, Sugawara, Nishinoya and Tanaka raise their cups to their mouths, glancing nervously at Daichi. Tsukishima chugs the last of his drink, finishing his first since he only started with it half-filled. He moves to get a refill and smirks when Daichi starts yelling. Technically, he’s yelling at Kei too, but that’s not important.

“Listen Daichi,” Tanaka starts. “It’s not like we’ve ever done any hardcore drugs, obviously.” He looks at Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, unsure for a second. “Not me, Noya and Suga, anyway. So there’s no reason for you to worry. We’re just teens being curious and trying stuff, and we are not addicts.” He adds the last part as a joke. Only Kei laughs.

“Speak for yourself,” Tsukishima says and the look Daichi gives him is one of the scariest things he’s ever seen. He has a rule to not piss off the captain. Stupid Tadashi, making him break that. “It was a joke.”

“Fine. Well, what about you and Yamaguchi, then?”

Tsukishima looks at Yamaguchi, raising his eyebrows to say that he started this so Kei wasn’t going to be the one to deal with it. Tadashi stays quiet for a second, contemplating what the best way to go about this is. “We haven’t done any hardcore drugs either,” he decides on.

“And what drugs have you done?” Daichi asks, not at all pleased with Yamaguchi’s answer.

Yamaguchi looks at Sugawara and cocks his head in the smart-ass kind of way that is rare for people other than Kei to see. Sugawara seems to know what he wants though and sighs. It is his role as the upperclassmen to confess first.

“We’ve had some alcohol and tried vaping a couple times. It was all supervised by Saeko,” Sugawara says and Tanaka scolds him softly for mentioning his sister. Tsukishima notices that they don’t specify whether they vaped with or without nicotine, meaning it was probably with. Daichi would yell at them either way, though. Which he is currently doing. Once he calms down, he moves his attention back to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. How unfortunate. Kei was hoping he would forget about them.

“A couple cigarettes, that’s all,” Yamaguchi says. He doesn’t explain it any further than that and Kei smirks at Tadashi, remembering the experience.

A woman had accidentally dropped her near-empty pack of cigarettes at the front of Kei and Tadashi’s bakery and by the time they noticed and argued about whether or not it was worth returning to her, the pair lost sight of her. If anyone asked about it, Tsukishima would say it was Yamaguchi’s idea to take them and try them out. Yamaguchi would argue that it was Tsukishima’s. Either way, they ended up taking the three cigarettes left and throwing the packet in the bin, because they aren’t litterers.

They kept the cigarettes in their bag until the next day, Yamaguchi bringing a box of matches to light them. Tsukishima suggested going to one of the more secluded alleyways they pass on their way back. It was small and despite only Kei and Tadashi being there, it felt incredibly crowded. They were about to do something illegal though so neither of them could complain. Both of them tried one cigarette each, Tsukishima erupting into a coughing fit almost immediately. Yamaguchi still brags to him about how he didn’t cough at all. Kei got over the coughing quickly and then, deciding that they liked it, the two shared the final cigarette. Passing it between each other, not at all disgusted that it was touching both of their lips. Tsukishima thought it felt weirdly private – the actual word he would use to describe it is ‘intimate’, but that thought always leaves his cheeks warm – to share a cigarette. The adrenaline of doing something they shouldn’t left the boys giddy for the rest of the walk.

“A couple-,” Daichi yells. “That’s _illegal._ It’s harmful. Are you idiots!” It’s not a question. The duo just shrugs in reply, biting their lips to try and hide their smirks. Tsukishima reminds himself of his rule. It’s already broken, but he doesn’t want to make Daichi any angrier than he already is, despite how hilarious it is.

Yamaguchi leaves his and Tsukishima’s adventures with drugs at that. He doesn’t mention the one time they stole some vodka from Tsukishima’s older brother’s alcohol stash – which was only two bottles, but it was hidden away so it counts as a stash – and shared it up in Kei’s bedroom when his family had gone to bed. Tsukishima is glad that Yamaguchi didn’t tell the team about that. It is a fond memory for him, seeing Yamaguchi so happy, even if it was from the effects of alcohol. Kei had been able to even spill some truths about himself that night too, not that he keeps many secrets from Tadashi. They’d fallen asleep curled around each other on Tsukishima’s bed, which the two of them had outgrown years ago, Yamaguchi usually sleeping on a spare futon these days. When they woke up the night morning, slightly groggy and maybe a little hungover, neither of them mentioned just how close they were.

Ironically, Daichi mutters something about how he wishes he could have a drink right about now before telling Tsukishima to keep the game moving.

Oh right, it’s his turn now.

“Never have I ever puked on someone…” Tsukishima starts, turning his gaze to Hinata. “-on a bus.”

“Hey!” Hinata exclaims and for a second Tsukishima is worried the moron going to tip his soft drink onto his hair. Instead, Hinata takes a large gulp of it before continuing. “That’s targeting! Targeting isn’t allowed! Is it? It’s not right? That’s cheating! Right?”

“Well…” Ennoshita says, glancing between Tsukishima and Hinata, probably trying to figure out who’s side he should take. “It was vague enough to not be considered targeting so it counts. But no targeting, Tsukishima. Or anyone.”

“I’ll allow it!” Sugawara says, raising his hand happily, his other arm wrapped around Tanaka’s shoulders who’s head is down solemnly, remembering the puke incident. Sugawara gestures for Hinata to ask his question since Tsukishima’s turn is over.

“Never have I ever done karaoke!” Ennoshita, Kinoshita, Tanaka and Nishinoya all take a sip of their drinks and Tsukishima finds himself wanting to know the story. “Was it fun?” Hinata asks, just as curious as Kei. Tanaka gives Nishinoya a pointed look before the two burst out laughing, Kinoshita rolling his eyes at them.

“Hell yeah, it was fun! I think Kinoshita had more fun than we did though,” Nishinoya says and Ennoshita nods his head, trying to stay serious despite his grin.

“We said we wouldn’t bring that up again,” Kinoshita groans, putting his head into hands, embarrassed. “ _Ever_ again.”

Tanaka only sets off into the story of when all the second years – still first years at the time – went to a karaoke bar together. It was Nishinoya’s idea and while Kinoshita was the least inclined to go, once they were there he was practically glued to the microphone. The others had dared him to sing one of the K-Pop songs that Sugawara was obsessed with and had forced them all to listen to. Kinoshita had argued that he did not speak Korean, nor did he know the words, but once the music started the lyrics flowed off his lips. Don’t be mistaken, Kinoshita does not sing like an angel. But he fell someone in between a good and bad voice, unlike Tanaka, who was horrible. Tanaka didn’t have many chances to sing though because Kinoshita had refused to let go of his mic. 

The rest of the group has videos of Kinoshita dancing around the room singing upbeat tunes, love ballads, sad songs and absolutely anything that he knew the melody of. Nishinoya even has a video of Kinoshita crying to a song about heartbreak, apparently, he and his partner had been going through a tough time at that point. It was sad, of course, but the team couldn’t help but laugh at the video. Kinoshita’s voice was cracking after every phrase and he was wiping at tears dramatically during the instrumental part. After that song, the group decided to leave. Kinoshita’s mood-lit up very quickly and he was still singing as they all walked back to Nishinoya’s house to stay over.

“Kinoshita, I never took you for that type,” Kageyama teases, smirking as Kinoshita waves his hand around, exasperated.

“I’m not- the type of what?” He says, cringing as the team laughs at him, muttering under his breath that everything would have been fine if the ‘stupid baldy’ – which is probably Tanaka – didn’t say anything.

“Okay, okay,” Daichi says, trying to get them all to be quiet. “That’s enough making fun of Kinoshita. Kageyama, you’re next.”

“Next to be made fun of?” Kageyama asks, his tone so blank that Tsukishima isn’t sure if he’s joking or not.

“Just go, idiot!” Hinata yells. God, why is he always yelling?

Kageyama asks a stupid question about being able to jump serve. Kei is honestly disappointed with the setter for relating this back to volleyball, but he blames himself for having any faith that Kageyama wouldn’t.

“Never have I ever!” Nishinoya shouts, his way of saying that it’s his turn, so give him attention. He waits until everyone is silent, and all eyes are on him before starting. “Never have I ever broken a bone!” The second and third years give him a pointed look and Nishinoya seems confused for a second before realizing he has to take a drink too.

Daichi, Tanaka, Hinata and Kinoshita all take a sip of their soda too. Sighing, Tsukishima does the same. Great, now he’s bunched in with those dimwits.

Yamaguchi chuckles at Kei softly, trying not to draw the rest of the team’s attention. Tsukishima gives him – what he hopes is – a scary look, despite knowing that Tadashi is immune to them. He hopes it’s enough for the still giggling boy to not mention how Kei broke his bone. He doesn’t need the whole team knowing about how he fell down a flight of stairs and broke his ankle just because he wasn’t wearing his glasses. It was several years ago and therefore is not, and never will be, something he needs to share.

Thankfully, once the others explain their stories and everyone looks at Tsukishima, the glare he gives them is enough to make them back off. Yamaguchi is still laughing softly into his hand.

“Alrighty then,” Sugawara says, clasping his hands together. He finishes the last of his drink and starts to refill it, gesturing for everyone to do the same once he is done. “Round one is finished. Round two, now? Yes? Yes? Yes. Okay, never have I ever…” He looks directly at Tsukishima, serious and unblinking before smirking wickedly. Kei wants to look away but that would mean backing down and therefore losing. Whatever plans Sugawara is coming up with, Tsukishima isn’t going to lose.

“Never have I ever called someone pretty and then lied about it.”

Fuck, Tsukishima thinks. I’m going to lose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, this is bad and on top of that, it's a day late. Sorry about that :D


	3. Confectionery Calamities: Part Two

_“Alrighty then,” Sugawara says, clasping his hands together. He finishes the last of his drink and starts to refill it, gesturing for everyone to do the same once he is done. “Round one is finished. Round two, now? Yes? Yes? Yes. Okay, never have I ever…” He looks directly at Tsukishima, serious and unblinking before smirking wickedly. Kei wants to look away but that would mean backing down and therefore losing. Whatever plans Sugawara is coming up with, Tsukishima isn’t going to lose._

_“Never have I ever called someone pretty and then lied about it when they asked what I said.”_

_Fuck, Tsukishima thinks. I’m going to lose._

***

The first time Tsukishima had recognised that Yamaguchi was more than just averagely attractive, they were at their bakery and he had offered Tadashi a taste of his favourite food: strawberry shortcake. Kei has always been the one with a sweet tooth, opting for hot chocolate instead of Yamaguchi’s almost sugar-less coffee, but for Kei to offer something like that was rare. Knowing this, Yamaguchi had agreed, immediately. Tsukishima handed him a spare spoon, meaning he had been planning this, and watched as the boy took a spoonful of cake. He told Tadashi what to grab so he could get the ‘full experience’ of the dessert. It seemed silly at first but when his spoon was to Kei’s satisfaction and he was granted permission to try it, Yamaguchi was grateful that he listened to Tsukishima’s commands. It was delicious.

Tsukishima stared as Yamaguchi’s face lit up. He was licking his lips and grinning widely. The setting sun had burned past the window and into Tadashi’s eyes and made his freckles shimmer like gold leaf flakes. _Pretty,_ his mind had said then and Kei had to look away as he realized that his best friend was insanely beautiful. At that moment, and every moment after, Yamaguchi looked like a god to him. It was so painfully obvious once he had recognized it and he was horrified because of it, and because of the thump in his chest.

Yamaguchi was not allowed to have Tsukishima’s strawberry shortcake ever again after that.

“Well?” Sugawara says, still staring straight at Tsukishima. Kei wonders just how long he was planning to ask this; if this was the whole reason he started the game of never have I ever. The others glance curiously at Sugawara, not realizing that he is looking at Kei. The question may have seemed incredibly random to them – it even was for Tsukishima – but this is Sugawara, after all. He puts thought into the chaos he causes. Usually, it is hilarious but now that Tsukishima is on the receiving end of one of Sugawara’s schemes, it’s not so funny anymore. “No takers?”

“Why would there be any takers to that?” Tanaka questions, everyone else expressing their agreement. Tsukishima stays silent, trying to sculpt his face into its usual uncaring look. “That’s really fucking specific.”

“Hmm, I suppose it is,” Sugawara says, finally breaking his eye contact with Kei to glance down at his cup. The implication is clear. But his hand would not move one inch, other than the slight shake in it. He would not take a drink. He would not. Because he wouldn’t have done what Sugawara said. Tsukishima wouldn’t do that.

Except, he did. And Sugawara knows it.

This sleepover is turning out to be even worse than he thought.

Kei should be able to just say it was him. There’s nothing wrong with thinking your friend is pretty and it’s perfectly reasonable to be embarrassed by telling them that. But the way Sugawara had phrased his question made it sound like Tsukishima is secretly in love with Yamaguchi or something. Which he isn’t. So this shouldn’t be such a big deal for him, or anyone else. Any idiot could see that Yamaguchi is pretty. What’s the problem if Kei says it out loud? Besides, everyone gets flustered when their best friend is that close to their face and looks like that. It doesn’t mean anything. There’s no reason to panic over being called out for this.

There’s no reason to panic over the red that spread across his cheeks.

“Okay, then,” Sugawara sighs, frowning at Tsukishima. There was still a look in his eye’s that told Kei he was not going to get out of this easily. “Well, I think I’m bored of never have I ever, actually. We should do something. What should we do?” He glances at the clock on Hinata’s desk. “It’s 1 o’clock. Should we go out?”

“I’m going to the bathroom,” Tsukishima says, trying to ignore his trembling hands as he finally set his cup down. Now seems like a good time to try and escape so he can calm down without it actually looking like he’s escaping, right? Sugawara and Yamaguchi watch him as he walks off but everyone else doesn’t seem to take much notice. He starts walking out of the room, making it to the doorway before realising he doesn’t know where to go. “Hinata. Where’s your bathroom?”

By the time he gets back to the bedroom Tsukishima hands are still. His breath is even now, and he would deny it if anyone ever said he looked a little ‘panicky’ when he left. Which is what Yamaguchi does, asking softly if he is okay.

“I’m fine. Shut up, Yamaguchi.” Tadashi looks at him like he knows that is total bullshit. Kei makes sure to keep his face blank and to stare forward, not letting his eyes wander to his friend. He is aware of just how well Yamaguchi can read him.

“Sorry, Tsukki.”

The group had argued for a while about what they should do, Tsukishima just watching them, trying to ignore Yamaguchi watching him. He only spoke up when Hinata and Kageyama suggested going to play volleyball. There is no way he is going to do that. Eventually, they had decided on watching a movie to pass the time.

This is how they all ended up back in the living room cramped onto the couch and the floor in front of it, trying to figure out how to turn on the English subtitles for Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. Kei is curled into the corner of the sofa with Tadashi next to him, resting his head on Kei’s shoulder. Since no one else made any comments or gave them weird look for it – except, maybe, Sugawara – Tsukishima hadn’t protested. He could sense how nervous Tadashi was about invading his space and Kei didn’t want him to freak out and feel bad. Besides, he doesn’t mind it. At all.

The movie starts and Yamaguchi looks up at him, poking Kei’s cheek to get his attention as if he didn’t have it to begin with. “Don’t get too scared, Tsukki,” he says, smirking as the people on the T.V start screaming.

_Pretty._

_Pretty._

_Pretty._

Why is Yamaguchi so goddamn _pretty_?

“Hey,” Tsukishima says, inwardly cursing himself for letting Sugawara’s little stunt bring these thoughts into his head. “Last time we watched a horror you were the one who hid your face behind a pillow for most of the movie.”

“But Tsukki, you jumped at all the jump scares! And you even screamed once!... Mr Tough Guy.” Yamaguchi adds the last part as a whisper. He knows Tsukishima can hear him just fine.

“I did not scream.”

“Okay fine…” Tadashi says, pausing for a second to let Kei think he won. “You squeaked. But it was adorable! Like a little mouse. Or… a cat?”

“I did not, it wasn’t like- shut up, Yamaguchi.”

“Actually,” Hinata says from the opposite side of the couch, Kageyama sitting next to him. “Both of you shut up. We’re getting to a good bit.” Someone else in the movie screams.

Tsukishima reaches across Yamaguchi and grabs a handful of popcorn from the bowl sitting between him and Tadashi and the freak duo. He keeps most of the popcorn for himself but takes a few of the pieces and launches them at Hinata’s face. It hits him directly on the cheek and the exasperated look he gives Tsukishima is worth the disapproving stare he gets from Daichi.

“Sorry Tsukki,” Yamaguchi whispers happily to Tsukishima before resting his head back on Kei’s shoulder and taking a few pieces of popcorn from his hand.

Tsukishima tries to pay attention to the movie, but the thought just won’t leave his mind.

_Pretty._

_Pretty._

_Pretty._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is bad and it's short but it's two days early so, oh well. It just wasn't working and school started, which I'm going to use as an excuse for how horrible this is. To be honest, this chapter didn't feel right being any longer so yeah. Anyway, we finally get a chapter from Yamaguchi's perspective next ;)


	4. Pandora's Box Of Chocolates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yamaguchi's P.O.V. (in case you couldn't tell)

‘Sorry, Tsukki.’ At this point, the two words were a habit. A routine to follow that did not hold any meaning other than continuing a memory. When they were little, Yamaguchi meant it. He felt he should apologise to Tsukki for everything he did, because how could someone like him deserve to be friends with someone as cool as Kei? It was the little things young Tsukki did that stopped Yamaguchi from believing this. It was the way he explained the different types of dinosaurs to him, the way he pointed out that some of Yamaguchi’s freckles looked like constellations, the way Kei didn’t push him away when he tried to hug him. Eventually, Yamaguchi no longer felt he had to apologise to Tsukki. They were friends and friends did not apologise to each other for simply existing.

‘Yamaguchi, shut up.’ Yamaguchi is sure that Tsukki used to be serious when he first started saying this. But even then, the words were never spiteful. It took a long time for Yamaguchi to understand the different meanings behind this. Kei has always been a bit of a brick wall when it comes to emotions, but Yamaguchi prides himself on being able to find the gaps between cement. Now, the meanings differ depending on the occasion. ‘Yamaguchi, shut up,’ can mean ‘This is embarrassing, don’t talk about that,’ or ‘What you just said was very funny, but I don’t want to laugh,’ or ‘Please drop this subject, it is not something I can or want to talk about.’ The latter is one of the worst kinds to be told, not because it is insulting to Tadashi but because it means Kei is hiding something from him.

When Tsukki got back from the bathroom and Yamaguchi asked if he was okay, he told Tadashi to shut up. The meaning was clear. Drop the subject. He did – of course – because at that moment, at this sleepover, was not the time to try and pry apart the bars Tsukki puts between him and everyone else. Yamaguchi acts like he didn’t know something is troubling his friend. Yamaguchi watches the movie and drops the subject and shuts up.

But as much as he tries not to, Tadashi cannot help but think over the day and wonder what could possibly be on Tsukki’s mind. Kei seemed fine this morning when they met up to go to Hinata’s house together and, despite his annoyance at the team, he seemed happy when they first arrived there. Then they went to Hinata’s room.

“God, what is this, some kind of business meeting?” Tsukki had said when Hinata thanked everyone for coming. “If you tell me we’ve been assembled here because we’re humanity’s last hope at survival, I’m leaving.” Everyone burst into laughter and Yamaguchi watched as Hinata threw a pillow at Kei. His glasses fell into his lap and his face was contorted into a look that would have seemed to be angry for the others, but Yamaguchi knew that while he was frustrated, Tsukki was actually quite amused at the ordeal. Tadashi giggled as he picked up Tsukki’s glasses and placed them back onto his face as gently as he could manage. Kei’s eyes were wide, and Yamaguchi noticed just how amazing the colour of his friend’s eyes are. _Wow,_ Tadashi thought. Kei’s eyes are flecked with so many different shades of yellow and brown. Yamaguchi found himself trying to pinpoint each speck of gold and reached the eighth before he realized Tsukki said something.

“Huh, Tsukki?” Yamaguchi asked as he pulled away slowly. He has to speak a little louder due to their team’s laughter, which was thankfully, starting to die down. Tadashi sat down again, facing forward, and leaning against the wall, making sure not to look at Kei’s eyes.

“Oh,” Tsukki said. “I just… Hinata’s a moron.”

After that, Kei started acting differently. A little tighter lipped, posture slightly more rigid. If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t have noticed. But Yamaguchi is not just anyone else. 

The next time Tsukki behaved particularly strangely was when Sugawara asked his last never have I ever question.

“Never have I ever called someone pretty and then lied about it,” the vice-captain had said. Tadashi wasn’t completely sure, but it seemed like Sugawara was looking in his direction. In Kei’s direction.

Yamaguchi is not an idiot. He knows it is likely Sugawara’s question was aimed at Tsukki. It is probably the most reasonable cause of Kei’s weird behaviour. He knows this. He does. But he will not ask if his suspicions are true because what if it was him that Tsukki had called pretty? Or worse, what if it wasn’t?

When the end credits begin to play on the T.V. it is 2:41 pm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, okay, okay. 
> 
> Technically, this isn't really a chapter. If I were to write it how I want to it should be one scene of a full chapter but I haven't been writing much lately and I figured it was better to post something short than nothing at all. Also, I didn't do a proper line edit on this as I would usually do so this is purely just Grammarly trying to save me now. Hopefully, there aren't (m)any mistakes. 
> 
> Next chapter will be in Yamaguchi's POV again because really it should be part of this one, but I am not sure how long it will take for me to get that out. Sorry about that.
> 
> I hope you liked this anyway.


End file.
